Impacts of Ascorbic Acid and Alpha-Tocopherol on Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) Grown in Water Deficit Regimes for Sustainable Production

Drought is a major abiotic stress forced by the changing climate that affects plant production and soil structure and functions. A study was conducted to explore the impacts of ascorbic acid (AsA) and alpha-tocopherol (alpha-toc) on the agro-physiological attributes and antioxidant enzymes of chickpea grown in water deficit regions. The results of the soil analysis showed that the electrical conductivity (EC) and pH were decreased from 521 mS/m and 7.08 to 151 mS/m and 6.6 in 20-day drought regimes, respectively. Agronomic outcomes showed that exogenous application of AsA and alpha-toc increased the germination rate index (GRI), mean germination time (MGT), germination energy (GE), water use efficiency (WUE), germination percentage (GP), and seed vigor index (SVI). However, all the above attributes experienced a decline under 10- and 20-day drought stress. Similarly, the Chl. a, Chl. b, carotenoids, proline, protein, sugar, glycine betaine, and hydrogen peroxide contents were significantly increased. Meanwhile, malondialdehyde, glutathione reductase, and enzymatic antioxidants (APOX, SOD, and POD) increased during 10- and 20-day drought, except CAT, which decreased during drought. The exogenous fertigation of these growth regulators improved the photosynthetic pigments and enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidants in stressed plants. The current research concludes that simultaneous dusting of AsA and alpha-toc could be an efficient technique to mitigate the antagonistic impacts of drought, which might be linked to the regulation of antioxidant defense systems.